


All Along

by UglyxDuckling



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-05-05 03:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14608500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UglyxDuckling/pseuds/UglyxDuckling
Summary: Jughead didn’t know when he and Veronica had become best friends. Just that one day, when he was ten years old, he was standing on his tip toes and stretching his fingers to grab his grey beanie that was being held just out of reach by Reggie Mantle. It happened so quickly Jughead had nearly missed it by blinking. Reggie was splayed out on the ground and glaring while his beanie was being handed back to him by a small girl with shoulder length, raven-dark hair. She had smiled encouragingly at him and adjusted the windbreaker that was tied around her waist. And suddenly Veronica was always there, next to him, standing up for him, bringing extra snacks in her lunchbox because Jughead always seemed to still be hungry after his measly government funded school lunch, demanding that he be ‘it’ for tag when they met at the park. And Jughead didn’t mind.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing for this fandom and I'm so excited. This is going to be slow-burn Jeronica fic and feelings are going to be pretty one-sided for a while. I actually got the inspiration from my own experiences with my male best friend. While we're extremely platonic, I loved being able to spin our own conversations and mannerisms towards each other into something for my favorite ship. Here's to hoping my followers over on ff don't burn me at the stake for starting another project before finishing my Bellarke fic.

Jughead didn’t know when he and Veronica had become best friends. Just that one day, when he was ten years old, he was standing on his tip toes and stretching his fingers to grab his grey beanie that was being held just out of reach by Reggie Mantle. It happened so quickly Jughead had nearly missed it by blinking. Reggie was splayed out on the ground and glaring while his beanie was being handed back to him by a small girl with shoulder length, raven-dark hair. She had smiled encouragingly at him and adjusted the windbreaker that was tied around her waist. And suddenly Veronica was always there, next to him, standing up for him, bringing extra snacks in her lunchbox because Jughead always seemed to still be hungry after his measly government funded school lunch, demanding that he be ‘it’ for tag when they met at the park. And Jughead didn’t mind. 

Veronica was the one constant he could count on in his life. They had suffered through the painfully awkward middle school years together and survived the transition into high school all while being attached at the hip. When Veronica found her aesthetic of fashionable skirts, expensive heels, and strings of pearls at the age of 16, Jughead had to experience sharing his best friend with someone else for the first time in his life. 

Enter: Archie Andrews. He and Veronica had started dating their sophomore year of high school and, while the relationship hadn’t lasted long, Jughead had his fill of playing third wheel and spending Friday nights alone so that Veronica and Archie could have their “alone time.” When she had broken up with him, the only notice Jughead had gotten was of Veronica storming into his trailer with a jar of popcorn kernels and an Audrey Hepburn movie. Veronica always insisted on making popcorn on the stove instead of buying microwavable bags. “It just doesn’t taste the same,” she’d say as she’d pull herself up on the counter and watch to make sure he didn’t burn it.  
Veronica had dated a handful of other guys throughout high school. All of whom Jughead had sneered at and made brief mention of how they wouldn’t be around long before Veronica would find some reason or another to dump them. 

“Just you, Juggie,” she would say over popcorn while Jughead set up the movie in the DVD player, “The only guy I know I can ever truly trust.”   
Jughead would roll his eyes and comment on her dramatics, but he would settle beside her on the couch nonetheless until the movie became nothing more but background noise as they would toss pieces of popcorn at each other to catch in their mouths and talk to each other too much to even focus on what was playing. 

 

Veronica’s dad had gone to prison their senior year of high school right before graduation. She would walk the halls with her head held high and ignore the whisperings of the students around her. Jughead had faced his first suspension of his school career for decking Chuck Clayton that year.  
“I know your father’s in prison, but I can be your daddy until he gets out,” Chuck had said loud enough for the entire room to hear and waggled his eyebrows when Veronica walked into the student lounge. 

Jughead couldn’t remember too much about it, honestly. Chuck was suddenly on the floor and Veronica was pulling Jughead away and running her cold fingers over his cracked knuckles calling him an “idiot.” But her eyes had been thankful and that had been all the validation Jughead had needed. 

College acceptance letters came and Jughead thought for sure this would be the end of their road together. Veronica would get into Brown, just like her mom wanted her to. He would go to the state school about 3 hours from Riverdale on an academic scholarship and still work part-time to be able to afford it. Money would be tight, but he knew he could manage if he just crunched the numbers. He could still remember the day Veronica showed him her acceptance letter to New York University, grinning from ear to ear.   
“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” she had danced around him and he felt instant relief at knowing his best friend would be on the same campus as him. 

 

And that is how they had ended up like this. Books spread out around a library study table, Jughead staring at Veronica without actually seeing her, his eyes glazed over from being in his own thoughts. 

“Earth to Jug… Is there any intelligent life form in there?” A perfectly manicured hand waved itself in front of his face, breaking him from his day dreaming. His eyes focused on the blinking cursor of the almost blank word document in front of him, mocking him with the stark white of the page and so few little words typed. He looked into the expectant dark eyes of his best friend across the library table and quirked an eyebrow in question.

Veronica rolled her eyes at him and plucked her headphones out of her ears before folding her arms across the table. “I asked how your assignments coming. Still have that writer’s block?” Jughead looked back down at the word page and chewed the inside of his lip before rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes. 

“It’s shit. Everything’s shit. I can find no redeeming qualities in anything.” He dropped his head to the table with a thud. He felt his beanie start to get inch up his head and reached up to tug on the sides to keep her from pulling it off. 

“Alright, Hemingway. Cool the dramatics.” Veronica tugged harder and succeeded in pulling his beanie away from his head. “Maybe this is keeping oxygen from getting to your brain,” she held up the hat with the tip of her pen like it was evidence and Jughead glared at her through a fringe of black hair. “It should not be this hard to write a couple short stories based on your personal experiences. We literally had someone from our high school get murdered.” 

Groaning, he picked his head up and dropped it to the table again. “I already wrote about Jason for an assignment. I can’t double dip.” 

“Well you and I went on all kinds of crazy adventures together.” Veronica’s nose scrunched up as excitement flashed across her features and she shifted in her chair to lean closer to him. “Do you remember breaking into the old Southside High building and getting chased out by that crazy security guard with the cloudy eye?”

Jughead lifted his head and rested his cheek in his hand to watch her eyes flash with memories. She always talked faster when she was excited. A smile played at the corner of his lips. 

“Or when FP was supposed to be out of town and we threw that rager in the trailer and it was so packed no one could even run when he came home?” She sent him a toothy smile and he couldn’t help the grin spreading across his face. 

“Day by day and night by night we were together – all else has long been forgotten by me.” Jughead dramatically let the quote fall out of his mouth and shot Veronica a conspiratorial wink that made the young woman roll her eyes.

“I really need to get you out of your apartment more…” Veronica teased and his eyes fell into a glare, “Maybe even a girlfriend.”

This time Jughead rolled his eyes before re-opening his laptop and staring at the blinking cursor again.

…

Jughead felt his phone buzz on the small table next to his bed. Clumsily, he fumbled around without opening his eyes to retrieve it and squinted one eye open to glance at the screen. Ronnie’s name flashed across the screen with a picture message of her dramatically rolling her eyes and a blur of angry red in the background. ‘Kidnapped for a girls brunch with Cheryl…’ His phone buzzed again with a second picture of a tray of mimosas and a short ‘send help’ message typed with it. 

‘I’m sure this is some kind of karma for all those shopping trips you’ve dragged me on. Tell the antichrist I send my regards’ his thumbs moved quickly to type out the message and he received a reply almost immediately.

‘That’s cold, Jones.’

He tossed his phone to the other side of his bed and buried his head under his pillow in an effort to stay in bed for as long as possible. He wasn’t sure how long he had been there, but he must’ve fallen asleep again because he was woken up to the feeling of the covers being pulled back and the bed shifting while someone laid on the other side. He cracked an eye open to see Veronica pulling the covers up to her chin and laying on her side to stare at him with a dreamy smile on her lips. 

“Brunch?” he questioned. Veronica nodded and scooted closer to put her bare feet against his leg. 

“I survived.” 

Jughead blew air quickly through his mouth and sputtered out a cough, his hand coming up to cover his nose while he arched his back and leaned away from the girl next to him.  
“It smells like you drank your brunch.”

Veronica giggled drunkenly and pushed him farther away with her feet. “Who am I to say no to a bottomless mimosa bar?” Jughead shook his head and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed to stand, stretching his arms far above his head and enjoying the crack he felt down his spine. He shuffled to the small kitchen/living room combo down the hall from his bedroom and pulled a bottle of water from the cabinet. By the time he made it back to his room, Veronica was already sleeping, little puffs of air coming from her slightly open mouth blowing tendrils of her hair up with every breath. 

Watching her sleep so peacefully caused a small familiar twinge in his chest that radiated down to his stomach and he hurriedly try to make the feeling go away. He had been getting twinges like that since high school. He knew what they meant; he just didn’t want to admit it. He set the bottle of water next to her on the table and gently brushed some of her hair out of her face. Veronica stirred slightly and leaned into Jughead’s touch in her sleep. He quietly retreated from his bedroom and threw himself down on the lumpy couch, waiting for the feeling in his chest to subside. He leaned his head back against the arm rest and tiredly stared at the dingy ceiling. 

Yeah. He knew what that feeling was.

Jughead Jones was in love with his best friend and he would do everything he could to make sure she never found out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The love I got for this little diddy is insane. I love this fandom and all you guys in it :D Thanks for sticking around! I want to remind everyone that this is a slow burn and feelings are definitely one sided at this point. While there will be some parts where they are with other people, it is ultimately a Jeronica fic so just hang in there with me!

“Absolutely not, Veronica.”

“The longer you bitch, the longer you prolong the inevitable.” Veronica sing-songed and stood with her back to him so she was unable to see the intense glare aimed at her back while she flicked through Jughead’s pitiful closet of greys and blacks.

“I don’t do blind dates.” Jughead bit out matter-of-factly in an effort to end the conversation.

“You won’t do anyone if you don’t put yourself out there.” Veronica faux mumbled under her breath knowing damn well it was loud enough for him to hear. A well-aimed pillow bounced off of the small of her back and she turned a daggering glare at the boy innocently sitting at the edge of the bed. “Think of it like a group date. Just a group of us going out to the Sigma party with mutually single companions.” Veronica held up a simple, thin grey hoodie to inspect. Deciding it would do, she tossed it at Jughead before walking through the door and down the hallway. “Meet me at the Kappa house at 9:30 for our ‘not date’.” She yelled.

Jughead groaned and flung himself back on her bed. “I’m not going!” he yelled back. Her laughter rang like bells down the hallway before he heard the click of the front door shutting. And just like that, Hurricane Veronica was gone and off to wreak havoc on some other poor, unsuspecting victim.

 

 

Needless to say, at 9:27 Jughead was grudgingly walking the pathway up to the sorority house, his hands shoved into the front pocket of the hoodie Veronica had picked out for him. He could hear the indistinct chatter and giggling of girls on the inside. He typically tried his best to stay far away from the hoard of girls that made up Kappa Kappa Gamma. They all had a tendency to look like they had just stepped in something foul whenever they looked at him. 

 

 

When Veronica had told him she was pledging the sorority, he had scoffed and crinkled his nose both in disbelief and disgust. He had paused before answering her, knowing he had to carefully choose his words. “Why the fuck would you do something like that?” Jughead had winced at the harshness of his own voice and mentally face palmed. So much for choosing his words carefully. Veronica had leveled him with a glare and flicked her hair back over her shoulder. Others often saw the movement as a sign of assuredness. Jughead knew better and had seen the movement as worry and her own self-doubt at the decision.

“Very eloquent, Jughead. I can see why you’re an English major.” Veronica’s tone had dripped with ice, but it didn’t hold the same punch that it would with any other person. “I’ll have you know that Greek life is a great way to get involved on campus. They represent philanthropy and hard work and sisterhood.” Veronica held up a new finger to emphasize each point like she was checking a list.

“And let’s not forget the annual jello wrestling event!” Jughead mocked with faux enthusiasm. Veronica didn’t respond right away. He could see her mulling over her thoughts and organizing them within her own head. He took this time to look at her. _Really_ look at her. His eyes roamed over her perfectly straight, dark hair that fell like a waterfall down her back. Over her almond shaped eyes and full lips painted with a deep maroon, the bottom lip tucked slightly between her teeth like she was trying to hold back a biting comment. Jughead knew how sharp her tongue could be if she felt slighted. His eyes traveled down to her billowy white blouse tucked into her black and white checked skirt he knew was riding up her thighs as she sat in the hard café chair. She looked to be the epitome of a sorority girl, contrasting harshly against his hard lines, plaids, and tattered black converses. His chest tightened at the thought of her realizing that he never quite fit into her life.

“You’re just… You’re so much better than those vapid, self-obsessed –“

“I’m not going to join a sorority and forget about you, Jughead.” Veronica cut him off, her tone soft and endearing while she reached across the table and took one of his hands in hers.

And she hadn’t. True to her word, Veronica had always made sure to make time for him. And Jughead had found himself being dragged to events he never would have been caught dead at, mingling with people that would never have looked twice at him, and even cheering Veronica on from the sidelines while she did indeed jello wrestle. “For charity!” she had justified it when he had scrunched up his nose at her.

 

 

Jughead braced himself, steeling his resolve before pushing open the heavy wooden door to the Kappa house and walking into the familiar foyer. He was a dark blemish against the brightness of the interior. The smell of perfume and different scented candles bombarding his senses.

“She’s upstairs, Frankenmonster.”

He recognized the voice immediately and it took everything in him to keep himself from rolling his eyes. “Thanks, Cheryl.” He ducked his head and jogged up the staircase, trying his best to not make eye contact with anyone he passed. He could feel their sneers without having to even look. Reaching the top, he turned down one of the hallways and hesitantly pushed open the door. Her phone was on the dock and blasting out something fast paced and bass-centric. Light from the walk-in closet was pooling into the room and he sat on the bed patiently.

“Cheryl?” her voice called from the closet, muffled from the partially closed door between them. There was movement behind the door and some shuffling like clothes were being discarded.

“Close,” he called back. “Just slightly taller and less demonic.” His eyes wandered over to the open bottle of grey goose on her bedside table and two half empty glasses of the clear liquid with lipstick marks around the rims. Her laugh caused his chest to tighten and he hurriedly tried to push the feeling away.

“We’ll be right out, Juggie!”

He nodded, realizing she couldn’t see him and cleared his throat. “Take your time. Whatever puts off going to this party for as long as possible.” Jughead paused, his eyebrows furrowing together. “We?” he asked at the same time that the closet door swung open.

“What do you think?”

His eyes were immediately drawn to Veronica, as they often were. The spaghetti straps of her dress flowed into black lace for the plunging ‘V’ neckline and clinging, dark grey fabric hugged her hips and transitioned into more black lace for the hemline that stopped mid-thigh. Her tanned skin practically glowed against the fabric and his eyes traveled down her long, lean legs.

Jughead’s throat suddenly felt like something had lodged itself in it and he scratched at the back of his neck just below his beanie. “You’re going to be cold.” He stated lamely, but his lips twitched when Veronica giggled that soft giggle of hers. There was movement to the right of her and that’s when Jughead noticed the young woman next to her.

She was jarringly different from Veronica in the way that she was all soft edges and brightness. Her blonde hair was curled and pulled back off of her face and Jughead recognized the velvety pink of her dress as one of Veronicas. It took on a different feel with this girl. On Veronica, it was sultry and undeniably sexy. On the paler girl it was attractive and simple, but in the way you’d want to take her home to meet your parents over a long break. Jughead had the mental image of an angel and a devil on each shoulder when he looked at the two girls.

“Betty Cooper, this is Jughead Jones.” Veronica smiled between them and lifted an eyebrow at Jughead as if to say ‘still don’t do blind dates?’

“The third.” Jughead tacked on as an afterthought. When the girl looked at him questioningly he reiterated. “Jughead Jones the Third.” Her pink lips tilted up in a smile as Cheryl burst into the room.

“Alright bitches! Let’s get drunk!” Jughead winced at Cheryl’s shrill voice, but accepted the cup that was pushed into his hands regardless.

 

 

 

Jughead hated parties. He stood at the edge of the room, nursing whiskey from a red plastic cup. Veronica was spinning around the dance floor, bouncing between dancing with Cheryl and dancing with Toni. Jughead watched, smug, as she blatantly ignored the few guys that approached her, instead wrapping her arms around Cheryl’s shoulders and dancing them to a different part of the floor and away from whoever had tried to cut in.

“I’m sorry that was so awkward earlier.”

Jughead’s eyes shifted to the blonde sliding next to him and raising her voice to be heard over the music. “Ronnie can be pushy.” He responded curtly, as if it explained everything and dismissed the occurrence altogether. Betty nodded in agreement and tilted her own glass to her lips.

“I have a feeling you’re used to it.” Betty looked at him, a small smile dancing across her face. Jughead barked out a laugh.

“Eleven years of being told whether or not I like something. It’s just second nature now.” He conceded, looking at her fully, a smirk on his lips. “I’m not interested in you.” He added after a short pause. Betty’s eyes widened in amusement and Jughead grimaced. “I’m sorry, I’m drunk.”

Betty laughed then, the sound of it light and angelic. “Just as charming as Veronica described you.” Jughead felt clammy and hot and sweaty and uncomfortable. This is why he avoided social situations.

“Don’t take it personal, I don’t really like anyone.” The hole he was digging was getting bigger and Jughead clamped his teeth together, untrusting of his loose, drunk tongue.

“I’ll see you around, Jughead Jones the Third.” Betty smiled at him knowingly like they had just shared a secret and Jughead found himself questioning what kind of person could still be smiling at him after the word vomit he had just spewed. Betty disappeared into the crowded house and Jughead’s eyes turned back to the dance floor, immediately seeing Veronica lip locked with a tall, brunette guy that had his hands low enough on her back to make red flash behind Jughead’s eyes. He tilted the cup back and quickly drained it, wiping his sleeve across his mouth and heading to the kitchen for a refill.

Jughead fucking hated parties.

 

 

 

The next day, Jughead found a disheveled Veronica on his couch with a full couch cushion covering her face and a mixture of items on the coffee table in front of her. Soft, sleepy snores were coming from under the cushion and Jughead examined her as she curled up in the space the cushion should have been, wondering how in the hell she was comfortable. As if on cue, the cushion started to move and Veronica poked her head out. She was wearing sunglasses and still she had to squint her eyes as if to see Jughead properly.

“Are those my pants?”

Veronica looked down to see she was wearing a pair of baggy black sweats and grinned back up at him. “No, these are obviously mine.”

“Stop breaking into my apartment.” He said simply and held out his hand to help her out of the rut for the cushion. She took it gracefully in her own and stood.

“This is a lot of hostility for it being so early –“

“It’s noon.” Jughead interjected.

“-in the morning when all I’ve ever done is be supportive – “ Veronica continued without hesitating.

“Force me to do things against my will you mean.”

“-and love you.” She finished her sentence despite Jughead’s interruptions and quirked an eyebrow as if to challenge him to argue more. Jughead regarded her with an impassive look on his face and felt a sudden swell of affection towards the girl in front of him whose hair was sticking up at odd angles and makeup was smeared down one cheek.

“You owe me coffee. And breakfast.” Was all he said, despite the word vomit he felt rising in his throat. Veronica’s grin spread across her face and Jughead felt his own smile twitching up on his lips and bit his cheek to keep from giving in. “And stop smiling at me.”

 

 

Hours later, Veronica was significantly more put together and in her own clothes, sitting in a booth across from him, food spread out on the table between them. Jughead took his time putting ketchup on his burger while asking Veronica about the guy she was kissing last night, careful to not make eye contact while he did.

Veronica laughed and waved her hand as if to dismiss it completely. “Some random guy. I think it was a pledge dare. He ran away from me so quickly afterwards I think he gave me whiplash.” Jughead’s shoulders visibly relaxed and he chanced a look at her while she picked at her own French fries. “And I’m surprised I even made it back to your apartment at the end of the night. You went M.I.A. I couldn’t find you anywhere. Disappear somewhere with Betty?” Veronica raised a delicate eyebrow and studied his face for signs of deceit.

“Absolutely not.” Jughead deadpanned and reached forward to take a drink of his soda. “Not my type.”

“Blonde, perky, and attractive as hell isn’t your type?” Jughead didn’t reply and instead stared at Veronica with a silent plea to drop it. As usual, Veronica plowed on anyway. “She’s a journalism major for Christ’s sake. You guys are peas in a pod.”

“Ronnie…” Jughead warned, his head tilting to the side.

“Veronica? Jughead?” their heads turned toward the voice by the door of the diner, Veronica working to place where she recognized it from and Jughead’s stomach dropping instantly.

Reggie Mantle stepped out of the doorway to the diner and lazily made his way over to their table.  Veronica was the first to find her words. Jughead felt glued to his seat, remembering the mental and physical torture the guy in front of them had inflicted on him since as far back as he could remember. “What’re you doing here, Reggie?” Veronica said simply, as if she could care less that he had made an appearance back into their lives.

Reggie took that as an invitation and slid into the booth next to Veronica. “I just transferred here from Columbia actually.” His eyes roamed over Veronica quickly and he flashed her a 100 watt smile. “Care to show me around?”

Jughead slouched further down into his seat.

_Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, follow me or send me nice things on Tumblr: UglyxDuckling (:   
> I can answer questions or give updates from there, as well!  
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! The end of our fiscal year at work is quickly approaching and my documentation is severely slacking. Enjoy!

Jughead wasn’t a spiteful person. At least, he didn’t consider himself one. He felt above the pettiness of long standing grudges and bitterness, but _Jesus Christ_. This guy had been the single cause of the mental and physical torture during his young life. Reggie Mantle. Reggie fucking Mantle. If Jughead was being honest with himself, he would have verbalized the hurt he felt at the ease in which Reggie was able to insert himself into their friend group. The feeling like a punch to the gut whenever Reggie joined them for plans. The sickening, bottoming out of his stomach whenever Reggie would flash a smile to Veronica and stretch his arm around the back of her chair innocently. The flash of hot across his skin and the red behind his eyes when Veronica would laugh at a simple, no-wit joke and tuck her hair behind her ear. Her tell tale sign that she was nervous. Jughead wanted to vomit.

He found himself making excuses to bail on plans and stay in his apartment, typing away at his laptop. Typing sentence after sentence and erasing them almost as quickly as they  spread across the page. He drank coffee after coffee, running his hands through his ink black hair and tugging it in frustration to the extent that it stayed up in odd angles.

_She was darkness, swallowing everything in her path and continuing on like a storm; wiping out whole families that dared to catch a glimpse of the beautiful disaster coming for their lives._

Jughead quickly deleted the sentence and tried again.

_The cold chill of betrayal to your core, the darkness seeping into your every pore with the realization that you are your own self-destruction_. Jughead paused and chewed his inside lip before aggressively stabbing the backspace key and closing his laptop. He stared at the closed laptop, peppered in stickers in various states of peeling and blew out a quick breath before opening it again.

_You were always destruction and you drew me in, reaching for you like thirsty roots to a coming storm. But maybe that was my own masochism._ Jughead ground his teeth together and clicked to open a new word document.

_Fuck Reggie Mantle. Fuck Reggie Mantle. Fuck Reggie Mantle._

Jughead was interrupted by the buzz of his phone on the desk next to him. Veronica’s name stared up at him and he quickly unlocked the screen to view the message.

‘ _I didn’t bring your spare key. Let me in the building.’_ His chest tightened and set his phone face down on his desk before it buzzed again. His fingers hovered over his phone, debating on whether or not to view the message before he slid his thumb across the screen.

_‘I brought tacos.’_

Tsking in defeat Jughead rolled his neck, closed his laptop, and walked out of his room to buzz her in.

Veronica had spread the food across his coffee table and sat cross legged on the floor in front of him while they ate. She was in rare form, wearing tight black yoga pants, a think purple hoodie, and only a smattering of mascara across of her eyelashes. Jughead could see her watching him from his peripherals and made a conscious effort to avoid her gaze, keeping his eyes trained on the tv at the front of the room.

“Jug… Did I do something to make you upset with me?” A crack in the usually confidant voice made his eyes snap to her face just in time to see the vulnerability pass over her features and then disappear behind one of her many masks. Jughead paused with a taco halfway to his mouth before quickly setting it on the paper wrapping and leaned towards his best friend.

“No,” his voice sounded too rushed even to his own ears, like he was trying to convince himself more than her. “My workload has just been insane lately getting ready for midterms. And they gave me more hours at the bar.” It wasn’t a complete lie, he rationalized. He had been slacking in his school work lately, and he had been picking up extra hours just to have a valid excuse to avoid her. One of her perfectly arched eyebrows lifted and Jughead knew she saw right through him. A sigh pushed itself through his lips and he leaned back on the couch, watching as Veronica gracefully stood from the floor and joined him on the old thrift store couch.

“What did I do Jug?” Jughead opened his mouth, convinced he needed to confess everything to her before pausing.

“Nothi – “

“Forsythe…” Veronica warned forcefully, her eyes narrowed knowing he had been ready to lie to her again. The use of his given name caused Jughead to bite on the inside of his cheek forcefully.

“It’s just…” Jughead rubbed his palms on his ripped jeans nervously. “Reggie fucking Mantle, Veronica? Have you forgotten what he used to do to me in school? I begged to stay home every day because of the shit he used to pull on me. He gave me my first black eye for Christ’s sake. He literally taped me to the locker room wall freshman year.  I would’ve been there all night if you hadn’t forced your way in to get me.” Jughead stood and paced in front of the coffee table, her eyes tracked him and she pressed her lips together tightly, letting his pent up frustration finally release. “I hate him Veronica.” Throwing up his hands and turning towards her abruptly, he pointed an accusatory finger in her direction. “And I don’t know how you can act like all is forgiven and expect me to be able to bump shoulders with him at lunch and parties and in the library.

They stayed silent, eyes locked onto each other. Jughead clenched his fists in an effort to control the shaking. Veronica drew in a long breath before reaching out and taking his balled up fists in her hands, forcing them to unclench and pulling him to sit next to her again.

“He’s not the same Neanderthal he was in high school, Jug. If I thought for a minute that he was still capable of being a grade A asshole like he used to be, I wouldn’t think twice about sending him packing. But he isn’t. He transferred here and was nervous and lost just like we were when we first came here. He reached out to us and is trying to show you that he isn’t that person anymore. Give him a chance. For me.”

Tugging his beanie down over his ears, Jughead searched Veronica’s face and was met with utmost sincerity. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips in the silence and he couldn’t help but watch the movement. Looking back into her eyes, his shoulders stiffened stubbornly.

“He’s never even apologized, Ronnie.”

Veronica’s eyes softened and looped her arm through his, scooting closer to him so that she could rest her head on his shoulder.

 

 

Two days later Reggie apologized to him.

Jughead had been studying for his Historical Figures exam in the library when the chair across from his was pulled out and the sack of muscles and tanned skin that is Reggie unceremoniously plopped into it. To his credit, the apology sounded sincere and Jughead found himself hating him even more for it. But he had nodded, and replied with a simple ‘okay’ hoping it would be enough to satisfy Veronica as he was sure the circus monkey in front of him would be running to tell her everything from their encounter.

After hearing about the apology, Veronica had clapped her hands together and smiled fondly at him. Her shoulder had bumped into his as she thanked him for keeping an open mind and he couldn’t help the small smile playing on his lips.

 

 

A week after that, Veronica told Jughead the news. She and Reggie had made out when he came over to watch _Casablanca_ in her room after he had made the claim that movies made before _Fight Club_ just weren’t worth watching. Veronica had apparently taken it upon herself to prove him wrong. Jughead really hated her insistence on proving people wrong.

“It was amazing, Juggie. He was so soft and sweet,” Jughead heard a roaring in his ears that mercifully tuned out the rest of her oozing compliments. The roaring subsiding enough for him to hear “I don’t think this is going to just be some fling with him.” His heart pounded in his chest and he felt like he was going to pass out simultaneously. He subconsciously rubbed at his chest, wondering if this is what a heart attack felt like, and thinking how he’d rather drop dead in this moment than listen to Veronica gush about Reggie fucking Mantle and his silk soft hair.

 

 

Jughead watched them kissing in a doorway during a party the night before midterm break. Teeth clenched, his fingers tightened on the red plastic cup in his grip and he had to remind himself not to completely crush it. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall behind him, willing the feeling of rocks in his stomach to go away. He had more to drink than normal and still he gulped down the remaining amber liquid in the cup, wincing slightly at the burning down his throat.

He opened his eyes in time to watch Reggie plant a series of kisses down Veronica’s neck as her head tilted back and she laughed. “Alright, I’m out.” Jughead mumbled to himself and pushed off the wall, walking purposefully towards the exit. A flash of blonde to his right caused him to pause and look towards a blonde ponytail bouncing in the sea of people crammed into the house. He glanced back in Veronica’s direction and watched as she ran her fingers up Reggie’s neck. With a sudden burst of confidence, he turned in the direction the blonde ponytail had disappeared in and pushed through the throng of people.

“Jughead! Didn’t expect to see you here.” Betty’s eyes lit up as she watched him walk towards her in the dimly lit kitchen. Jughead didn’t reply, instead he set his cup on the table while he walked by it and stepped up to the blonde, his chest pressing into hers. Betty faltered, caught off guard by his sudden proximity but Jughead caught the way she leaned towards him, as if drawn by a magnet.

He reached up to brush her ponytail over her shoulder and kept his hand on the side of her neck. The feeling of her pulse pounding under his palm caused him to stop and question himself. He didn’t even like Betty. What was he doing? He was certifiably insane, what was he thinking? His ears picked up on Veronica’s laughter over the pounding music and he refocused on Betty’s pastel pink lips. He closed his eyes, imagining maroon, bee-stung lips before crashing his mouth onto hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! As always, head over to my Tumblr, UglyxDuckling, to get updates on new chapters, as well as fun little real life snippet on my friendship that inspired this fic with each new chapter!   
> XO


	4. Chapter 4

Reggie let out a low whistle that caused Jughead to wince and shrink down and away from the attention he was getting. Jughead was already finding it hard enough to sit in the poorly padded booth across from the girl he had been adamantly trying to avoid since the night of the party. Veronica saw right through him. She always did. He used to appreciate that.

Now, he just wanted to sink so low into the booth he could disappear and not feel her eyes burning into him.

“You landed Betty Cooper? I didn’t know you had it in you, Jones.” Reggie eyed the thinner man up as if seeing him in a new light. A hint of some type of feral appreciation passed over his face and Jughead fought the urge to pull his beanie over his eyes. He settled for fidgeting with an unused straw, bending it back and forth like an accordion until it couldn’t bend anymore.

“Don’t underestimate the charm of a brooding writer, Reggiekins. Us girls eat that shit up.” Veronica winked at Jughead and he felt heat expand from the pit of his stomach down to the toes in his scuffed up boots.

He wasn’t naïve enough to think that hooking up with Betty would cure the insatiable thirst he had for Veronica Lodge. That didn’t stop him from trying. Coincidentally he had tried to fill the void with the pastel glue that was Betty Cooper multiple times that night. And it had worked. For a couple hours. Until Veronica had all but forced his door in after he ignored several of her calls and texts looking for him.

Reggie leaned over to press his lips against her cheek and Jughead inadvertently tracked the movement, an acidic taste rising to the back of his tongue. “I have a lab to go to, but I’ll check in later.” Sending a nod in Jughead’s direction, Reggie lifted himself from the booth and was gone. Throughout the encounter, Veronica’s eyes never left Jughead’s.

“So are you and Betty serious?”

“Are you and Reggie?” Jughead countered, his eyebrow twitching up in defiance. He almost imagined a flash of jealousy in Veronica’s eyes. It was gone before he could convince himself it was real.

The two stared at each other, both too stubborn to break the silence first.

“I just – “

“I’m not – “

Jughead let out a breath and waved his hand to prompt her to talk first.

“I just feel like you're being capricious. I didn’t even know you two talked.”

“Weren’t you the one that tried to get us together?”

Veronica’s mouth hung open as if caught in a response before she snapped it shut and stared as Jughead with such intensity he recognized immediately that she was having an internal battle with herself.

Jughead chewed on the inside of his lip and averted his eyes to the condensation on his water glass. It wasn’t like he _didn’t_ like Betty. She was nice enough. And gorgeous. And if he was being honest, the more time he spent with her, the less Veronica was on his mind. Specifically, the images of Reggie’s lips plastered to different parts of her body. Betty was monumentally different than everything he associated with Veronica. He had spent a lot of time over midterm break getting to know her after everyone traveled home and they were left on campus. He had picked up some extra shifts to save up and she stayed to look into some stories she was hoping to use for one of her classes. Granted, most of their time exploring each other had been without clothes on and in the confines of Jughead’s small apartment. Jughead felt Veronica’s hand brush against his on the table. The sudden jolt of electricity buzzing through his hand was as good as a shot of espresso to the bloodstream and he had to resist the urge to pull back.

“I just don’t want to see you run head first into something new and then decide that maybe it’s not really what you want.” Veronica’s voice held genuine concern but Jughead couldn’t help the swelling feeling of anger rush up his chest.

“Oh okay, pot meet kettle.” He almost felt bad when the shock passed over Veronica’s face. He thought maybe he saw a little bit of hurt too, but Veronica’s eyes hardened before he could be sure.

“Fuck you, Jughead.”

She was gone before he could even try to apologize.

 

 

Smoke curled up between his fingers as he stared at the lit end of his cigarette. Jughead sat on his fire escape, his bare skin prickling from the cold air. He looked back at the blonde asleep in his bed, the covers gathered around her waist and the pale skin of her bare back practically glowing in the dark room. He knew he should go to back in to her, but his fingers pulled out his phone. Again. He pulled up her name. Again. His thumbs hovered above the screen waiting to type a greeting, an apology, a sonnet, _anything_ , but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

This wasn’t the first time they had gotten into a fight. In their junior year of high school they had gone almost a week without talking to each other when Jughead had made a stupid comment to her boyfriend at the time. He couldn’t even remember what was said now, just that it was the most miserable week of his life. His chest tightened as he realized it had already been a week and a half with minimal contact between the two of them. His thumbs typed out a quick apology, but he paused above the send button. His eyes scanned over the naked body in his bed again before he deleted the text. He took one more drag of his cigarette before flicking it away and climbing back into his room.

Jughead Jones was done apologizing and crawling back to Veronica Lodge.

 

 

Jughead hadn’t talked to Veronica for 24 days. But he wasn’t counting. Sure he had started chain smoking to keep himself busy, and maybe he had picked up a little more than tobacco to smoke once or twice to distract himself, but really he was doing just fine. Betty had been staying over almost every night and she was a welcome distraction to the stress of being Veronica-free. Or, not stress. Jughead was still working on convincing himself that it was better this way. Being free.

It did get easier. He had spotted her at the library only a few times when he’d go there to study and he eventually found the breath in his lungs again the more he saw her. At some point, he had even stopped actively trying to look for her on campus.

Betty had been mildly curious about Veronica’s sudden disappearance in his life, but Jughead brushed her off. Explaining that they were both just busy and sometimes childhood friendships just run their course. She had looked at him then like something in her clicked into place and her eyes leveled him with a knowing stare. But she let him change the subject and, at the time, he was grateful for her, for Betty. Sweet, steady, understanding Betty.

 

It wasn’t for another four days that she brought it up again.

 

They were studying in the small living room of his apartment, books spread around them in organized chaos. Her feet tucked into his lap comfortably.

“I know why this fight with you and Ronnie is so serious.” Her eyes never looked up from the textbook they were scanning. Jughead’s heartbeat involuntarily beat double time and he forced his demeanor to remain calm while he paused halfway in the sentence he was highlighting. The only indication that Betty should go on with her thought was the small tilt of his head towards her.

“She’s in love with you.” She said it so matter-of-factly, like she was discussing the weather.

Jughead laughed then. The sound was harsh and loud in the relative quiet of his apartment. “You’re reaching.”

Betty hummed in response and tilted her head to the side, still not looking up from her textbook.

“She loves you and is struggling to see you with someone else when your attention has been focused solely on her for so long. She’ll come around. So will you. You’re both too important to each other to lose this friendship.” She turned the page and continued reading, as if to end the conversation. Jughead tapped the end of his highlighter on his book and stared at the young girl in front of him, too focused on her textbook to see him studying her. Her words were on replay in his head and he chewed the cap of the marker before settling back into the couch to continue studying. His eyes read the same paragraph over and over again without comprehending the material and he kept stealing glances to the blonde next to him.

Sweet, steady, understanding Betty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I definitely had a hard time with this chapter and something still feels wrong to me... I know this chapter slacked on the Jughead/Veronica interaction but I promise the next chapter will be stuffed full of it  
> XOXO
> 
> As always, head over to tumblr to get your friendship snippet!

**Author's Note:**

> Follow UglyxDuckling on Tumblr more fic updates, sneak previews, and goodies!  
> XOXO


End file.
